DA Vance Announces Indictment of Joseph Griffin on Homicide Charges

May 19, 2017

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the indictment of JOSEPH GRIFFIN, 26, for fatally striking 59-year-old Brenda/Kenneth Bostick with a metal object on 7th Avenue in Chelsea and then breaking the windshield of a taxi cab later that evening. GRIFFIN is charged in a New York Supreme Court indictment with Manslaughter in the First Degree and Criminal Mischief in the Third Degree. [1]

“The defendant is charged with attacking Brenda/Kenneth Bostick with such force that it left a skull injury that caused the victim’s senseless and tragic death 12 days later,” said District Attorney Vance. “My Office is committed to ensuring that justice is served in Bostick’s memory.”

According to court documents and statements made on the record in court, at approximately 10:00 p.m. on April 25, 2017, GRIFFIN approached the victim—who identified as transgender and was alternately known as Brenda and Kenneth Bostick, or simply “Bostick”— on 7th Avenue between West 27th and 28th Streets and struck them over the head with a long, metal object. The victim immediately fell to the ground and was rushed to Bellevue Hospital. They were declared braindead on May 4 and died on May 7.

Meanwhile, the defendant had fled the scene. Approximately 90 minutes after assaulting the victim, GRIFFIN was observed running through traffic in the middle of the street. When a taxi driver stopped his car to avoid hitting GRIFFIN, the defendant approached his vehicle and climbed onto the front of the car, smashing his windshield.

Assistant District Attorney Sarah Marquez is handling the prosecution of the case with Assistant District Attorney Meredith Dempsey, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann, Senior Trial Counsel for Trial Bureau 80; Assistant District Attorney Alfred Peterson, Chief of Trial Bureau 70; and Executive Assistant District Attorney John Irwin, Chief of the Trial Division. Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran, Senior Trial Counsel for Trial Bureau 70, is also assisting with the prosecution of this case.

District Attorney Vance also thanked NYPD Detectives Mashud Rahman and Paul McCann of the 13th Precinct Detective Squad, and Detectives Geneva Eleutice and Joseph Barbara of the Manhattan South Homicide Squad, for their assistance with the case.

[1] The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. All factual recitations are derived from documents filed in court and statements made on the record in court.

Defendant Information:

JOSEPH GRIFFIN, D.O.B. 11/29/90Address Unknown

Charges: • Manslaughter in the First Degree, a class B felony, 1 count• Criminal Mischief in the Third Degree, a class E felony 1 count